First published 2026
Mariah Dyersburg built a new life in Seattle. She traded her small-town bakery origins for chef awards, designer clothes, and a reputation that makes kitchen staff cry. The freckled girl from Sugar Gap, Tennessee disappeared twelve years ago when she fled her family and first love. Her grandmother's death changes everything. The will demands Mariah and her two estranged sisters return home to complete fifteen seasonal tasks around town. Each task drags up memories she tried to forget. The county sheriff assigned to help them is Sam Jenkins, the boy whose heart she shattered when she left. Her sisters refuse to forgive her abandonment. Sam still loves her despite the pain she caused. The scavenger hunt forces Mariah through every corner of Sugar Gap, past the white gazebo and brick storefronts, back to Sweet Blessings Bakery where cinnamon still perfumes the air. She must face the family she abandoned and the love she destroyed. Fifteen tasks stand between Mariah and her inheritance, but her grandmother's chocolate bourbon pie and the town's stubborn hold on her heart might make leaving impossible again.
Genres: domestic-fiction, adult, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance, family-drama
Vibes: bittersweet, emotional, heartwarming, intimate, nostalgic, redemptive
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity, found-family, homecoming, second-chance-romance
Setting: Seattle, Sugar Gap, Tennessee, Sweet Blessings Bakery
306 pages · Paperback · Choc Lit